By Michael Lauzon
CORRESPONDENT
Published: May 29, 2014 3:02 pm ET
Updated: May 29, 2014 4:38 pm ET
Plastic film maker Klöckner Pentaplast Group would not confirm recent reports that the company is for sale after an earlier attempt to sell the business was unsuccessful.
News agencies Reuters and Bloomberg reported May 28 that unnamed sources told them that Klöckner majority owner Strategic Value Partners’ advisors Goldman Sachs Inc. and Jefferies Group will start sending out information on the film company in June and that tentative bids are expected in July.
Klöckner spokeswoman Astrid Hoffmann-Leist stated in an email that the company has been the subject of rumors for years since it has been owned by financial investors. She said she could not comment on the potential sale reports.
The reports indicated a sale could value the German film company at about 1.5 billion billion euros ($2.04 billion). SVP tried to sell it in autumn 2013 but the asking price was not met. Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund SVP acquired the company in summer 2012 from New York private equity firm Blackstone Group LP. Blackstone had acquired Klöckner Pentaplast in 2007 from Cinven Partners LLP of London.
Klöckner’s key markets are pharmaceutical, medical, food, beverage and cards. Its head office is in Montabaur, Germany, and its North American headquarters is in Gordonsville, Va.
Hoffmann-Leist said her company “continues to execute its strategy of generating sustainable and considerable profitable growth.”
For its fiscal year 2012-13 ended Sept. 30, Klöckner logged net sales of 1.19 billion euros, up about 2 percent from the previous year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was 174 million euros, up 14 percent from 2011-12. The company employs 3,100.
Last summer Klöckner revealed it is spending 45.6 million euros in global capacity expansions in 2013-14. Targeted sites are in China, Brazil, Great Britain and Portugal.
Klöckner opened its first production site in China in summer of 2013 in Suzhou. It is producing shrink films for double-digit growing markets in Asia. The company has invested 22.5 million euros in the operation, which employs about 76.
In mid-May 2014 Klöckner announced changes to its executive management board. Joining CEO Christian Holtmann and CFO Markus Hoelzl are Stefan Brandt in the newly created chief operating officer post and Marc Setzen as chief technology officer. | 
